![]() I repaired his tape machine, which was an Ampex MM 1200. I had to tear out an old console and install a new one. The first thing Prince had me do was work on his home studio. But I did arrive in time to do a lot of the overdubs for the Purple Rain album. There was a mobile truck at First Avenue and David Rivkin, Bobby Z’s brother, did the recording during the live gig. I was planning the transition from moving from Los Angeles to Minnesota. But I was hired in August of 1983, around the time the First Avenue songs were. Were you around when they initially recorded parts of Purple Rain at August ’83 First Avenue gig? Prince was going to try to see how far he could go with all of his artistry. It was a big deal for such a young artist to go to his record label and say, “I want to make a movie.” This is an artist who created his own competition with the Time, Vanity 6, Sheila E, and others. Prince was aware that with this new power he could do even more than what he had achieved with 1999. ![]() But you got the sense from being around him that he felt empowered. At this time, I wasn’t hired as his engineer. He had already done some of the recording for Purple Rain and there was more to be done. When I first met Prince he was just coming off the 1999 tour. But I can say that it was clear that he had momentum. At the time I was just joining Prince I didn’t know what he was like and what he was thinking going into Purple Rain. They made me an offer right then and there. That had to be very surreal for you, right? Glenn asked me a lot of questions and then he sent me over to Prince’s management. I am completely well-trained as a technician so I knew I could do the work and I was a huge fan. I’m female and Prince likes working with females. And then I went right to Glen Phoenix, who is the President of Westlake Audio, the studio where Prince recorded and told him I would be perfect for him. So then in 1983, I heard through the grapevine that Prince was looking for a technician. I knew I would do anything to work with Prince. Prince was bold, creative and he was making a statement and he had original thought. It was everything I wanted music to be: It was R&B, rock, soul, and funk. By the time Dirty Mind came out, my mind was completely blown. I heard the song “Soft & Wet,” and I remember thinking, “I got to find out who this is…this is great!” I became a Prince fan immediately. I was riding a city bus in Hollywood and there was a kid who was sitting in the back of the bus with a boombox. What was it about Prince that made you want to work with him, and what was your role on the Purple Rain project? If people needed a tape machine repaired, the tape machine doesn’t care what gender you are. I just aimed in that direction and found myself there. My calling was to be on the other side of the glass and to be sung and played to. I always knew I wasn’t cut out to be a musician or a songwriter. But what I did know is I loved records and that I had fantasized about being a studio engineer. I did not know it was male-dominated, and I didn’t know any musicians in the business. Susan Rogers: It was the clear ether of youth. What compelled you to go into such a male dominated field? Keith Murphy ( You set out to become an engineer in 1978, at a time when women were an anomaly on the technical side of recording. In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Purple Rain album, VIBE sat down with the studio veteran to discuss her wild and crazy ride with Prince Rogers Nelson from superhuman, marathon recording sessions to escaping the clutches of film icon Elizabeth Taylor on the Purple Rain tour. It was during this period that Rogers, who would go on to engineer for such acclaimed Prince works as Around The World In A Day, Parade, and Sign ‘O The Times, witnessed the making of the enigmatic artist’s highest selling album (the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning 1984 film has to date sold nearly 20 million copies worldwide). For the then 27-year-old, it was baptism-by-fire after being hired as the songwriting machine’s personal studio technician in August of 1983. Prince & The New Power Generation's 'Diamonds And Pearls' Gets "Super Deluxe" 47-Track Reissueīut the Purple Rain-era holds a special place in Rogers’ heart.
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